Yes, I think it's official. Although he remains on the 40-man roster they don't seem interested at all. His prospect rating has been heading south as has his batting average. Will Nellie Rodriguez achieve more? Still young and hitting plenty homers but strikes out at an alarming rate and has Bradley one step behind him.

11-2 win this afternoon for Columbus behind Ryan Merritt's 6 shutout walkless innings; 2 homeruns by Ronny Rodriguez; two singles and first AAA steal for Zimmer, single and walk by Diaz; and closeout by Ben Heller.

42

Mejia must not feel any pressure. He just goes out everyday and gets a hit.

17th homer for Santander as he nears the end of a terrific month. 9 of the homers in July; hitting 349 for the month; 1116 OPS; far too many strikeouts 27 in 118 TAB, but I imagine he'll be strong contender for Carolina League player of the month.

Luis Lugo working on another good outing; so far 4-2-0-0-2-2. that runs his scoreless streak to 16 innings. Over longer period, he came in 2.45 ERA over last 9 starts, and deleting one bad one among those it's 1.88.

Scrappers rained out today, so perhaps another doubleheader tomorrow. They split a pair on Friday with highlights:

OF Andrew Calica 2 singles and a walk in game one; single and HBP in game one; slash line--431/542/600
C Logan Ice 2 singles and a walk in game one
2b Erlin Cerda HR4 and single in opener

Shane Barber 3 3 0 0 1 3

Indians Prospective
#Indians 2015 8th Round Draft Pick RHP Justin Garza is making his professional debut tonight returning from TJ surgery in the AZL.


Indians Prospective @indiansPro
Congrats to #Indians RHP prospect Argenis Angulo on his promotion to (Low A) Lake County!
24.2(IP) 10H 3ER 10BB 28SO 1.09 ERA

don't look at the result of Garza's debut. Not pretty.

No one left here to post about. Well, McKenzie. And Bradley. And Clevinger. Zimmer worries me [and the Yankees too I'm sure since he doesn't hit lefties.] Aiken has been looking worse time out, I wonder if he's got more arm problems?

This will ensure a whole new Top 10 for the Tribe this offseason. And attract more attention to Willi Castro, Benson and Jones from this year's draft.

Indians Prospective @IndiansPro
Just got done chatting with Francisco Mejia. Very happy to be staying with Indians organization. Has the day off tonight so no streak watch.

So don't read into him not being in lineup tonight. Has scheduled day off.

Some very nice pitching lines on the farm today. Kaminsky & Plutko.

And McKenzie is really looking special. Poor guy gives up 1 unearned run today and takes the loss, 1-0.

McKenzie steps in for Sheffield as our premier young starter. He is two minor league levels farther back and 2 years younger. But his statistical results to date have been even better and he actually looks like a major leaguer: 6-5 165. Well a skinny one but that means he has the chance to add size and speed as he grows up and moves up.

49 1/3 IP 31 hits 16 walks 55 strikeouts.

other stats from Sunday:

2016 draftees:
Andrew Calica hbp in two AB. He's getting on base 54% of the time.
Nolan Jones walked and singled thrice. He's getting on base 50% of the time.
Connor Capel singled and tripled.
Will Benson pinch hit and walked.

Another 18 year old:
Oscar Gonzalez 2 hits, 2 strikeouts. The good: 292 avg 615 slugging. The bad 1 walk so his OBP is only 303. The ugly 37 strikeouts among his 69 outs. Fans just about 40%of the time.

BA report on Sunday:

CLE AA Papi, Mike RF 3 0 2 0 .193 2B (10)
CLE AA Rodriguez, Nellie 1B 3 0 1 0 .244 BB (57)
CLE AAA Diaz, Yandy 3B 4 0 1 0 .337
CLE AAA Zimmer, Bradley CF 4 2 2 0 .318 SB (2) [He backed in to return to No. 1 and maybe he can earn it]
CLE HiA Bradley, Bobby DH 3 0 0 0 .249 2 BB (64) [That's a lot of walks]
CLE HiA Krieger, Tyler 2B 4 0 0 0 .278 BB (13)
CLE HiA Mathias, Mark SS 4 0 1 1 .276 BB (38), SB (8) [First time at SS since college, I think. Replacing Chang at least for a day]
CLE MAJ Naquin, Tyler CF 3 2 2 0 .335 BB (20) [He's doing what we expected Frazier to. Made the trade possible]
CLE AA Kaminsky, Rob 6 3 0 0 2 6 3.70 [Now the No. 1 lefty in the system. Much improved last few starts]
CLE AAA Plutko, Adam 6 5 1 1 1 4 4.37 [Quite inconsistent at AAA]
CLE SS McKenzie, Triston 5 3 1 0 2 8 0.55 L (4-3) [Line speaks for itself]

We know one thing from this trade deadline

The Brewers must have really, really liked Mejia.